Switch from breastfeeding to formula

My baby is 7 weeks, dropped a little weight initially and has been slow to gain weight since. He managed to get back upto his birth weight by 4 weeks, with me feeding every 2-3 hours and topping up with a little formula once or twice a day. Since then we’ve stopped the formula and just breastfed and he continued to gain weight, so I’ve been really happy with the progress, and so has the health visitor.

When he was weighed this week, he’s still gaining weight but slowly and even though the health visitor said it’s fine, I’m a bit disappointed that he’s dropped a centile as I’m worried maybe he’s not getting enough.

I’m now really torn on whether to continue breastfeeding, switch to formula, or a mix of the two. Has anyone else been in a similar situation and what did you decide to do?

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My girl is breastfed only but a slow gainer- one lb a month. She’s 11 months now and her weight really caught up. I think 7 weeks is still so young, it fluctuates a lot. I chose not to formula feed for this reason personally. It’s not necessary. Your breastmilk is more than enough for him and way more nutrient dense and healthier than formula. Everyone is obsessed with weight gain but there are so many other things to look for. Is baby happy? Hitting milestones? Hydrated enough to have 5-6+ wet diapers a day? Then you’re doing fine. My girl dropped and increased percentiles often but stayed between 30-50% and that’s the curve we stayed on. Her doctor is happy so is my lactation consultant. It changes so much based on spurts and their movement, activity etc. don’t stress! Now that you’re off formula I would stay off for good. You’re going great

Has your baby been checked for a tongue tie?

I think it’s normal to loose some weight in the beginning. They say up to 10% I think. I continued to breastfeed after doing formula for a while and my baby personally has gained weight amazing with just exclusively breast feeding. She went from 16th percentile to 77th! As someone else said my baby had a tongue tie we got clipped and she had a dairy soy intolerance when I ate those things so eliminated those things and it helped a lot

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